Spanish train crash driver ‘on the phone’
The driver of the train that derailed in Spain killing 79 people was on the phone at the time of the crash. The train was also going at almost twice the speed limit, say investigators.
Investigators said the train had been going as fast as 119 mph shortly before the derailment last Wednesday and that the driver activated the brakes “seconds before the crash” near Santiago de Compostela in north west Spain.
In a statement, investigators said that the driver was talking on the phone to an official of national rail company Renfe when the crash happened and apparently was consulting a paper document at the time.
Francisco Jose Garzon Amo has been provisionally charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide.
Garzon was driving the train carrying 218 passengers in eight cars that hurtled far over the 50 mph speed limit into a high-risk curve, tumbling off the tracks and slamming into a concrete wall, at around 95 mph.
The first of the funerals for the 79 victims was held on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, along with Prince Felipe and his wife Princess Letizia, joined bereaved relatives for a Mass for the victims in Santiago de Compostela.
Officials said 70 people injured in the train accident remained hospitalized, 22 of them in critical condition.
Mr Garzon was released from custody on Sunday, but he remains under court supervision. Officials said information from the data recorders will be passed on to the judge leading investigations into the case.